Storage battery.



W. A, CRWUS.

STORAGE BATTERY.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 16, 1913.

1,076,485, Patented Oct. 21, 1913.

UNITED STATES VIJA'IEITI OFFICE.

WALTER A. CROWDUS, 0F CHICAGO, IL-LINLHS, ASSIG-NOR OF ONE-HALF T0 ALFRED B.

PORTER., 0F CHICAGO. ILLINOIS.

STORAGE BATTERY* Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 21, 1913.

Application led July 16. i913. Serial No. 779,33.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, VVaL'rnn A. CRownUs, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, inthe county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Storage Batteries, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to an improvement in the class of secondary or storage batteries, in which the positive and negative elements are composed of metal plates constructed to hold the active material, or material to be rendered active, which is plastered on or into them, and a separator Yis interposed hetween these elements; the whole, beingr imlllersed in a cell containing a suitable electrolyte and the elements being formed by charging them with electric current in the usual and well-known manner.

Among the more important objects of my improvement are to greatly decrease the cost of manufacture. of these batteries, by eliminatingr the large amount of slow and arduous handwork hitherto required to produce them, and to greatly increase their efficiency and durability.

In they accompanying drawing, Figure. 1 a broken view in elevation of one of the two similar supports. of nl v improved construction. Vfor the active material, with which the support is shown to he only partly iilled; Fig. il a broken end view of they support; Fig. 3 is a similar view showing the intersticial tubes of the sul'iport filled with active material: Fig. 4 is an enlarged section on lino 4, Fig. B: Fig. 5 is a view in elevation ol' a battery-coupley ol" my improved construction having the elements rolled spi rally together into cyluulrical form and bound. and with the lower end sealed; Fig'- l is an enlarged broken view showing the 'lower end of the structure represented in Fig. 5, with the sealing medium therefor in section` and Fig. 7 is an enlarged top-end view of the structure illustrated in Fig. 5.

The support 8 for the active material 14, or material to be rendered active, is made of a thin sheet of lead of proper width and length, cdnformed to produce intersticial parallel and transversely-extending tubes 1'() projecting at sides. These its opposite tubes, which are. of tie preferred cylindrithe tubes a-re of the same, or about the same.

width, as the ring-like sections thereof.

l have devised, for producing the illus tra ted configuration of the support 8, a may -ehine which the subject of my application for Letters Patent of the United States, Se-

rial No. 7 79,326, filed concurrently herewith on the 16th day of July, 1913. This ma.- chine involves a pair of rolls,'each provided with a plurality of circumferential series ot' teeth, these annular series being unifor;,ily spaced apart. and the two rolls being jonrnaled to canse cooperation 0f their teeth. which are of semi-circular or approximately semi-ciroular form, whereby, when a. thin sheet of lead is fed between theIIi, by rotating the rollers the teeth expand it at intervals lengthwise of the sheet, into the intersticial tubes 10 separa-ted by the web'- bing 1l, with the interstices 12 alternating with each other on opposite sides of the sheet, and the ring-like sections of the tubes 10 similarly alternating with each other. This machine produces the tube-containing sheet continuously in any length of the strip of lead that is fed through it` andthe' sheet thus produced may be severed into proper,

and each tube is filled with the material 14A to he rendered active. This is introduced` by preference. in plaslic or molten condition and allowed to harden h v exposure; and I have planned special apparatus lor so introducing it and preventing it from s n"ading through the interstices lllieyond tlietuhe-scctions and over the surfaces of the webbing l1 which should remain uneoated withrthe material and thus avoid impail-infr the desired flexibility of the support tor rolling it up, as hereinafter described. Or the active material may berpro'- vided in the form of molded litharge sticks ol' proper size, and inserted into thetules l0, or in dry powdered form and compressed into .the tubes. Two of these filled supports,

for a battery-couple, are placed one upon :mother ou a suitable surface, as a table, with a sheet of'absorbent material 15 between them and covering the uppermost support. The absorbent material which I prefer to use is a thin, veneer-bke sheet of wood treated with caustic soda, to remove its resinous content and increase its porosity, and it is soaked with water towash out the chemical and adapt the Sheetto be bent without cracking or splitting. These layers are l,then rolled up, by bending them to gether into spiral shape, like that of' a clockspijing, as represented` in Fi 7, and are fastened together in thatcon ition by fixing bands 16, of tape, cord, or' the like, about them. While these layers are shown to be thus rolledl intothe approximate shape of a cylinder, it is within my invention to so roll them into an shape incross-section to conform to the s apes `oftheir containingjar. After thus rollin the air of elements, and while the veneerike s reet is still wet, the terminals 13. are connected to a source of electric current of sufficient;- voltage to force through the porous sheet several amperes of the current. This produces heat and dries the sheet, if the two elements are free from lmetallic contact with each other, meanin freeA from shortcircuiting. I do this, using the opportunity before the couple is introduced into a jar containing the electrol te, to test the couple, so that if found efetive the defect may be corrected immediately. When some heat has been generated by this test, the roll is dipped at its lower end, to the extent of about a quarter of an inch, into a heat-insulating wax, preferably a molten mineral wax, which hardens by exposure to the atmosphere. This affords a sealing cover 1'( on the bottom of the couple to seal the convolutions against the possibility of bridging between them of any active material that may become dislodged from the supports. The elements of': the couple are then formed in the usual manner, by passing electric current through them for the required length of time, the forming being done preferably in a jar containing the electrolyte and from which they ariel removed into another jar for use as a ce It is essential that the surfaces of the supports be not coated to any degree of thickness with the active material, since they would be rendered inflexible and it would be impossible to bend them for rolling in the manner described; and it is also desirable, for the sake of avoiding impairment of their ready flexibility, to leave the webportions 11 of the support uncoated, or practically so, with the material 14, which becomes quite hard and brittle when set.

My improved construction of storage-battery has, among its advantages, that of ease and comparatively great cheapucss'of manufacture, since the parts composin r it may be readily made and assembled; tlat of the spirally-rolled layers of the elements, which form is readily produced, since the filled tubular supports are highly flexible, bending easily at their web-sections 11 in rolling them up, and in that form the tubes of successive layers of the elements abut against the porous sheet 15 and afford a multiplicity of spaces 18, whereby over 90 per cent. ot' the element is exposed to the electrolyte, causing a complete and perfectelectrolysis of the active material to ensue, with comparatively little internal resistance. Moreover, by sealing the lower end of the spiral roll with a cap 17, no short-circuiting of' the battery ensues by dropping down, into the jar or cell, of active material, and all need of providing the usual supportingbridges in the bottom of the containing jar or cell is avoided.

lrVhat l claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is- 1. A storage-battery couple comprising sheetsy of flexible metal provided at intervals along their lengths with intersticial tubes filled with active material, or material to be rendered active, an unbroken sheet of porous, fibrous insulating material interposed between said metal sheets, and thc whole being rolled together into a body having a plurality of convolutions.

2. A storage-battery couple comprising sheets of flexible metal provided at intervals along their lengths with intersticial tubes lled with active material, or material to be rendered active, a fiat-sided sheet of porous, fibrous insulating material interposed between said metal sheets, and the whole being rolled together into a body having a plurality of convolutions.

3. A storage-battery couple comprising sheets of flexible metal rovidedat intervals along their lengths with intersticial tubes filled with active material, or material to be rendered active, a sheet interposed between said metal sheets, of Veneer-like wood rendered highly porous by removal of its resin` ons content, and the whole being rolled together into a body ha'ving a plurality of convolutions.

4. As a new article of manufacture, a storage-battery couple comprising sheets of flexible metal, each expanded at intervals along its length into parallel intersticial tubes projecting at opposite sides of the sheet and filled with active material, or material to be rendered active, said sheets being rolled together with porous material confined between the opposing tubular projections of the layers and producing a multiplicity of openings in ,the couple, and a cover sealing the bottom of the couple.

5. As a new article of manufacture, a

storage-battery couple comprising sheets of flexible metal,A each expanded atintervals ulong its length into parallel intersticial tubes projecting at `opposite sides of the sheet and filled with active material, or material to be rendered active, said sheets being' rolled together `with porous material confined between the opposing tubular projections ol' the layers and producing a multiplicity of openings in the couple, and a 10 seul of mineral 'Wax on the bottom of the couple.l

WALTER A. CROWDUS. In presence of A. C. IIscmn, NELLIE DnAnnoRN 

